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Secret Knowledge

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Engaging experts reveal their favourite hidden objects, places and artistic passions.

In Secret Knowledge, some of our most engaging experts reveal their favourite hidden objects, forgotten places and artistic passions.

Secret Knowledge: Hogarth - One Man and His Pug

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Secret Knowledge: Hogarth - One Man and his Pug

03/05/2014 GMT

Hogarth - One Man and His Pug

BBC World News - Secret Knowledge, Hogarth - One Man and His Pug

Lars Tharp looks into the mystery of artist William Hogarth's obsession with pugs.

Lars Tharp appeals to the nation to help him recover a rare piece of long-lost William Hogarth memorabilia - a precious terracotta sculpture of the artist's beloved pet pug.

To mark 250 years since William Hogarth's death, ceramics expert and self-confessed Hogarth fanatic Lars Tharp is determined to solve a mystery that has consumed his personal and professional life - the case of Hogarth's lost pug. In this unique shaggy dog story, Tharp explains Hogarth's obsession with this most characterful of breeds and the pivotal role it played in his life and his work. A canine odyssey that only examines one of his most iconic works of art, but leads us into a world of satire, salaciousness and secrets. From harlots and rakes to the shadowy machinations of the freemasons, Tharp's ultimate goal is to lead an appeal to the nation to help him recover a rare piece of long-lost Hogarth memorabilia --a precious terracotta sculpture of his beloved pet pug. For Tharp this is the perfect moment in which to pay tribute to a man whom he regards as our greatest and most influential artist - and what better way to explore a man famed for his wit and humour than on the trail of his most iconic and idiosyncratic four-legged companion.

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